Masks of Light and Stone: Minako's Love
by Grace of Mercury
Summary: Minako is given back her memories of the Silver Millenium, and the general she loved and killed. But not all is as it seems. Who really is Kunzite?
1. Silver Ghosts of a Broken Past

AN: Hi, people! I haven't posted in so long, but here's my latest offering. This is in the same series as Fire and Gold, but this is much longer and more comlicated than Fire and Gold, so hopefully all of you will enjoy this. FEEDBACK is the most wonderful thing in the entire world! My e-mail is graceofmercury@yahoo.com and feedback is extremely appreciated and gratifying and I will respond to all e-mails! Thank you!  
  
This story starts when the Senshi first started to fight against the generals.  
  
"Minako, quieter! You might wake up your parents! And then how would we explain this to them?" Artemis hissed at Minako as he made a general gesture at him, a talking white cat, and Minako, currently decked out in her scout uniform.  
  
"Haven't you forgotten? Dad's out at the bars and Mom- Mom is *entertaining* herself with her new *male friend*. And besides, even if they did notice that I came in late, they wouldn't care!" Minako said bitterly. Minako looked down, the glint of tears in her eyes, and then she sighed and quietly detransformed into her normal blouse and skirt.  
  
Artemis looked away- he always got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about Minako's excuses for parents; both of them couldn't care less if their daughter dropped off of the face of the earth, but when Artemis saw Minako demean herself because of their negligence- well, both of Minako's parents were very lucky  
  
that Artemis didn't have any other weapons than a set of mean claws.  
  
But none of that would help Minako- so Artemis tried to change the subject.  
  
"Minako, you really need to focus more. Your fighting was reasonably good at first, but it deteriorated towards the end." Artemis rebuked a frayed and exhausted Mina.  
  
"Gee, Artemis, maybe it could have something to do with the fact that it's 3:00 o'clock in the morning, and we fought with those generals for an hour. Naw, I think that just didn't fight well because I didn't feel like it." Exhaustion gave a bitter and sarcastic edge to Mina's voice which was normally never there as she flopped down onto her bed. Artemis looked up, a bit stung and surprised and the normally cheerful Mina's cynical and sarcastic side. He opened his mouth, but even before he got a word out, Mina rolled over and said quietly, contritely, "I'm sorry, Artemis, I'll try harder next time." Artemis  
  
nodded, and a comfortable silence hung while Minako lay on her bed, not yet attempting to change into her pyjamas while Artemis looked on.  
  
"You know, I don't know why, but the generals seem really familiar to me. Like I knew them before, or something. Especially the silver haired one, um, Kunzite? I don't know why." Minako mused out loud. Artemis's eyes widened, and it seemed for a moment that he was  
  
about to speak, but he remained silent.  
  
"Um, Artemis?" Minako's voice was strangely hesitant. "Do you think that we'll be able to defeat the generals and Beryl?"  
  
"I have every confidence in you and the other scouts, Mina." Artemis said sincerely.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I know, but it's just that, that-" Mina gestured helplessly. "Yes?" Artemis prompted.  
  
"I don't know whether I could actually kill a person." Mina's confession was spilled out in a rush of breath, and after taking a short breath, another flood of words came out, almost tripping over each other in haste.  
  
"It's just that, that I, myself, a fourteen year old girl, will have to kill someone. Actually, physically try to take someone's life. And this someone is a person, a real, living, human being. Someone with a name. With dreams. With goals. A person with a future, and I have to destroy that. Can I do that? Am I really capable of actually killing someone? Taking away someone's life with my own hands? Do I really have to right to judge whether someone deserves to live or die? I don't think I can handle that much power. To know that someone is dead, and that I caused it. People think that killing is a video game, that it'll be a fun adventure, that there's glory in it. What glory is there in looking at a dead corpse and knowing that you, you were the cause of it?"  
  
Minako's voice had started out as rather loud and wild and edged with hysteria, but had gotten lower and lower until her voice died out in a shattered, hoarse whisper. Minako hunched over, her golden, glowing hair spilling over her, almost hiding her from view. Artemis could tell that she was on the knife edge of tears.  
  
Artemis looked at Minako's huddled, almost trembling form, for a long, long time, and then sighed sadly, sorrowfully. He got up and padded until he was in front of Minako, and waited patiently until she raised her head a few degrees until all that showed were her sorrowful blue eyes.  
  
"Minako," Artemis's voice was gentle, but for the underlying intense sorrow and pain. "In order to help you with everything that's been going on, I'm going to give you back your memories of the Silver Millenium. Alright?" For a few moments, Minako didn't respond,  
  
then, Artemis saw her give the faintest of nods. Artemis reached forward, and gently touched his paw to her forehead. The sign of Venus flared up with a brilliant golden light at contact, and suddenly, abruptly, violently, Minako was flooded with memories.  
  
//Being pushed on a swing, bathed in golden sunlight, throwing her head back so her hair became a golden glowing halo all around her. Someone was pushing Minako on the swing, and Mina felt utter, idyllic contentment. Throwing her head back to laugh at the person pushing her, she saw- she saw Kunzite laughing and pushing the giggling Venus on her swing...//  
  
Minako almost jerked out of her memories, she was so shocked that Kunzite had been a trusted and dear friend. However, the pull of the memories was too strong, and she slipped back in.  
  
//Sheer and utter anger; how could the people of the moon be so blind? So narrow minded? Minako stormed silently. However, to the world outside, Minako seemed to be absolutely normal; the same bubbly, cheerful girl without a care in the world. Only the inner senshi, Serenity and Artemis could ever discern when Minako was truly angry,  
  
because all the senshi had been taught that visible anger could be used as a weakness and turned against the senshi during tense diplomatic (and otherwise) situations. However, of all the senshi, Minako was truly the only one that followed that teaching,  
  
since Rei and Lita and even Ami all showed extreme anger in some discernable way.  
  
Therefore, Minako was surprised when she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. She turned, startled to see Kunzite there. Kunzite had a gentle, understanding expression on his face, but this only served to infuriate Minako further. However, true to her resolve never to let visible anger show, she simply smiled at Kunzite in greeting.  
  
"Hello. How are you today?" To Minako's own ears, she sounded saccharinely sweet and insincere, but again, nobody other than the senshi, Serenity and Artemis ever seemed to be able to tell the difference. Consequently, Minako was truly startled when Kunzite gave a knowing smile and said,  
  
"Very well, my lady Anger. Might I ask what is infuriating her worshipfulness this fine morning?" Minako stared at Kunzite in shock. Although over the past few months of diplomatic relationships between the Earth and the Moon, Minako had managed to get to know Kunzite better, his offbeat, dry sense of humor always caught her off-guard. The majority of people who knew Kunzite didn't even know he had a sense of humor, because Kunzite always pulled his jokes with a perfectly set face, delivered formally and precisely down to the last point of protocol.  
  
Even now, Kunzite delivered his offbeat joke with a formal bow, precisely executed, with a perfectly neutral and impassive expression on his face; a perfect, unreadable politician and general. As he straightened up, however, a decided twinkle was evident in his eyes,  
  
and suddenly, Minako dissolved into fits of laughter at the elaborate facade, feeling her anger lessen, slightly.  
  
Kunzite looked at her keenly, his sharp gaze seeming to penetrate her.  
  
"Minako, really, what's wrong? Why were you so angry before?" Minako sighed, and then said, trying to digress from the subject,  
  
"Was it so obvious to you?"  
  
"Your anger? No, not really, it's just that your smile was a bit too clenched, your posture was a bit too defiant, and your eyes didn't quite disguise everything you were feeling. Wouldn't be obvious to most people, but," here Kunzite shrugged, "I'm just good at reading you. Good enough to know that you're trying to distract me from the original question, which I put before you again. Why were you so angry?"  
  
Minako sighed once more, putting her hand up the massage the nape of her neck, a habit whenever she was frustrated or exasperated.  
  
"Ah. It concerns me, doesn't it? More specifically, the entourage from earth. Right?"  
  
Minako stared at him, slightly awed and faintly amused. "Am I really that obvious to you? I think that you read me like a book."  
  
Kunzite nonchalantly shrugged it off again. "Just a particular skill of mine." he teased. However, Kunzite now fixed her with a purposeful stare, and finally Minako explained what it was all about.  
  
"I'm just so angry at the Lunar council members! They're so narrow-minded! Both you and I know that a treaty between Earth and the Moon could benefit both sides immensely, but NNOOO, they just have to argue and dissimulate about the trustworthiness- or rather lack thereof-  
  
of Earth's intentions and diplomats." Minako ranted.  
  
Kunzite's eyes were warm and sympathetic, but he seemed to hesitate before he spoke. "Mina, the Lunar council is trying to be sure of Earth's intentions before they commit. They are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of all those who live on the moon, and that is  
  
not a responsibility to be taken lightly. There might be some who truly are prejudiced against the Earth for the sake of prejudice, but you shouldn't let yourself be bogged down by their narrow minds." Kunzite eyed her critically. "To tell the truth, I think that you just need to relax."  
  
Minako's jaw dropped. "YOU'RE telling ME to relax? Who are you? What have you done with the real Kunzite?!?" cried Minako, genuinely concerned about Kunzite's sudden change in personality.  
  
If Minako hadn't known Kunzite better, she would have sworn that a corner of Kunzite's mouth quirked upward in the hint of a smile. "Come on. I know where we can both go to escape for a while."  
  
With that, Kunzite gently pulled Minako's arm towards the teleport station, and in a flash they teleported down to earth.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Minako stepped lightly, eyes wide at the beauty spread before her. A wide, open meadow full of golden flowers stretched for as far as she could see. Fields upon fields of gently waving golden flowers were contrasted by the brilliantly blue sky. Everything was fresh and wild and clean and new.  
  
Minako was rendered speechless by the sheer beauty before her. She sat down, cross legged, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relishing the free, fresh scent of flowers all around her.  
  
"Like it?" Kunzite sat down beside her, looking out over the meadow. Although he did not smile, (privately Minako wondered if Kunzite ever had smiled in his entire life) the stern lines around his face had smoothed away, and his face seemed to have softened somewhat. "I find that whenever I'm tired, or worried, I always find peace when I come  
  
here."  
  
Minako found her voice. "Kunzite, I have seen the greatest architectural wonders of the moon, the great golden arches inscribed with silver filigree, set with gemstones of the finest water. I have lived in the palace of Venus, where there are strange and wonderful rooms, filled with elaborate and elegant treasures unparalleled anywhere in the universe."  
  
Minako looked out over the never-ending fields. "But nowhere have I ever seen anything that could compare with the beauty I see now."  
  
Kunzite looked at her with an unreadable expression, his eyes strangely intense. "I could say exactly the same thing."  
  
Minako felt herself blushing and glanced away; she deflected the tension by pointing and laughing, "Oh, look! A butterfly!" Indeed, a silver butterfly fluttered down towards the two of them, only to land on Kunzite's nose.  
  
Kunzite gravely crossed his eyes to look at the insect resting on his nose. Minako dissolved into a fit of giggles at the mock-somber expression on his face. Minako looked at his handsome profile, and the silver butterfly that rested gently on his nose. As her giggles ran out though, the corner of Kunzite's mouth quirked up, and he gently  
  
transferred the butterfly to his hand. The butterfly flapped its wings gently, and Minako's fit of giggles faded into quiet as she looked at Kunzite, who looked at the delicate silver butterfly. Just for one moment, everything was perfect. Minako knew that no matter what the future would bring, that one moment would remain forever treasured within her memory.  
  
*If only things could always be like this.* She thought dreamily. The butterfly flapped once more, then fluttered off of Kunzite's hand, flying high into the sky.  
  
Kunzite sighed, then leaned back on the palms of his hand.  
  
*SPLAT!* Unexpectedly, the palm of his right hand pressed down on a mudhole, and the entire side of his body was spattered with mud.  
  
With that, Minako dissolved into another hopeless fit of giggles, which was only made worse when Kunzite turned, quite calmly to her, politely saying, "Am I so honored to provide my lady amusement?" Minako laughed loudly, managing to stutter, "Y-y-yes!"  
  
Kunzite bowed, which was an interesting feat considering he was sitting down with half of his previously immaculate uniform covered in mud. He began to methodically wipe mud off of his uniform when Minako, seized by inspiration, stealthily scooped up some mud and lobbed it straight at Kunzite's face. The mudball exploded, coating Kunzite entirely in mud.  
  
Kunzite turned slowly to the now helpless with laughter Minako, and so she missed his next few words. "Beware my vengeance, lady."  
  
Minako was still on the ground, helpless with laughter, when with a shriek she darted up and ran away from Kunzite, who had lobbed a mudball at her, missing by mere millimeters.  
  
Kunzite chased her around the field, loaded with mud in both hands, despite the fact that both their shoes now had an inch of mud on the bottom. Finally, when Minako risked a quick look back, Kunzite tackled her with his mud-drenched hands and Minako found herself facing  
  
the sky, her entire back and hair coated with mud.  
  
"Ah Ha! Now I've caught you, my villainess!" Kunzite's smiling face was above her, since he had her pinned down by her shoulders in the mud. Minako's laughter faded, and she gazed up at Kunzite's face, as the same intense look she had seen earlier resurfaced in Kunzite's  
  
silver eyes. And as she looked up into his face, she felt as if the two of them were caught in Paradise, in Eden, and that time itself had slowed down and turned to syrup to flow slowly around them.  
  
"Minako- I think I'm falling in love with you." Kunzite's voice, usually so cultured and smooth, was now rough and hoarse with a million different emotions.  
  
"Kunzite- I think I love you already." Minako whispered, still gazing up into his eyes.  
  
And as Minako looked up into Kunzite's mud-covered face with his bedraggled and drenched silver mane, a brilliant, true smile broke out on his face. And Minako thought she had never seen anything more beautiful than that smile, than that face, than that man, as he drew her in for a kiss.//  
  
Minako came out of her trance with a gasp. Her smile lit up the entire bedroom. She looked like a girl that had had all her dreams come true. "I was loved!" Minako whispered jubilantly. "There was someone who loved me! I had a soulmate! I was well and truly loved!" Minako laughed out loud, and the sound was like golden bells ringing out. Minako jumped up and spun around, hugging herself, her golden hair flying out all around her.  
  
Artemis looked at this golden child, this golden child of happiness and love, that for so long had been denied the love that she craved. Her parents couldn't care less about this precious child, and Artemis still didn't understand why. Minako was neglected, emotionally abused, and for so long Minako had covered up all her hurt, all her needs with the perpetually sunny attitude and never-failing smile. Only Artemis saw the fits of self- pity and self doubt. Not even the other  
  
senshi, not even Serena ever saw what Artemis did. But this, this was Minako at her truest form; Minako was the senshi of love, and now that Minako knew that she had been truly loved in the Silver Millenium, she positively glowed.  
  
And now, now that Minako had finally found her happiness, Artemis had to shatter it.  
  
When Minako finally calmed down, Artemis once again padded over and touched his paw to the sigil on her forehead; once again, the sigil flared with golden light, and Minako was transported back.  
  
//If Kunzite was normally considered impassive, then right now he looked like he had been carved from granite. Minako didn't quite understand how he could manage this, considering that she felt like  
  
her entire world was disintegrating into dust, and her heart gave a sickening thud as she thought about what had happened recently. Beryl had led a revolt and incited fury against the Lunarians, and Endymion and his generals were desparately needed back on earth. The possibility of war between the Moon and Earth was looming large on the horizon, and it seemed very likely that there would be war despite the best efforts of Serenity, the Senshi, Endymion, and the generals.  
  
But looking at Kunzite's profile, Minako couldn't tell if the general was even breathing, much less concerned for his homeworld or- or even her, the girl he professed to love. Could it be that he *didn't* really care that much about her? She thought dismally. All the other generals and senshi had had emotional, moving farewells, and here she was, with a man who looked as if he was wearing a mask of stone.  
  
And then Kunzite turned his incredible, rain-grey eyes to Minako, and she nearly gasped from the sheer intensity of the emotion from his eyes. There was love there, certainly, but there was also an emotion that she thought that Kunzite never would feel, not in a million years.  
  
Fear- raw and bitter, Minako realized with a jolt that Kunzite *was* afraid. But he was afraid for her.  
  
Kunzite crossed the distance between them in two long, quick steps, never breaking eye contact.  
  
He gripped Minako's arm so hard that he cut off all feeling, but Minako was too mesmerized with the swirling emotions in his eyes that she didn't even notice.  
  
"Promise me-" Kunzite demanded, without preamble. "Promise me that in the war that will come, you won't let yourself get killed. Promise me you won't die!" Minako's throat closed over with emotion, and finally she managed to squeeze out, "Not unless you do first." It came out in  
  
a raw whisper.  
  
"Minako-" Kunzite traced her cheekbone with his hand. "I love you- do you understand that? Never forget that I love you."  
  
Minako framed Kunzite's face with both her hands. "And you never forget that I love you too. Despite all that has passed, despite all that will ever come, I will always love you." Minako whispered- but strangely enough, Minako felt slightly melancholy. She smiled bitterly- wasn't that the trademark of hopeless love, though? Neverending sorrow.  
  
And then Kunzite bent down to kiss her, and all other thoughts faded from her mind.//  
  
The memories shifted- now the present Minako saw a battlefield, littered with bodies already, and she saw her Silver Millenium self fighting desparately through a force of enemies, finally overcoming them. She saw herself race to the Moon palace's entrance grounds, the  
  
devastated Moon Palace looming in the background.  
  
//Minako panted as she ran to the entrance grounds as fast as she could; she already was drained and exhausted, but the knowledge that her princess, her liege *needed* her propelled Minako on through all enemies, over the corpses that littered her path.  
  
And then Minako stopped dead, all of the blood draining from her face. She would have staggered back, the scene in front of her hit her like a punch to the stomach, but her training kicked in and Minako remained motionless, instead of collapsing on the ground.  
  
Kunzite and his four generals were heading toward the Moon Palace, with an army of youma at their back. And the expressions of the four generals promised slaughter for the Lunarians. And the senshi.  
  
Minako couldn't believe her eyes. Desperate, she sought out her soul-bond, her link with Kunzite. Although it was newly formed, she could still sense his emotions and such-  
  
And what she found there was anger. Kunzite was angry and he was out for blood.  
  
Minako stood rooted to the ground in disbelief. The pain started in her heart, and then spread like wildfire, until when it hit her brain she could only come up with one word.  
  
Betrayal.  
  
Minako bit back a cry of incredible anguish. Heartbreak? Ha! What a joke. Right now it felt like her heart had been smashed into a million tiny pieces. Minako would have given anything to end this agony,  
  
this pain; numbness, coldness, anything other than this gut-wrenching feeling which took her breath away, drained her blood, left her feeling like her reality was dissolving beneath her feet, and everything she held dear was just so much water that trickled through her fingers.  
  
Minako closed her eyes and allowed herself one brief respite; and then she gathered up her anguish, her agony, her excruciating pain, and pushed it to the back of her mind.  
  
But when she opened her eyes again, there was nothing there. The brilliant blue eyes were empty, dull. Her soul had been broken, shattered, scattered to the wind. There was nothing left for Minako to give. Minako was a broken woman. Only her duty and loyalty to her liege even kept Minako on her feet.  
  
Minako looked over at the army and forced herself to look at the generals leading the army, coolly assesing the force of the army and the defense that she and the other senshi would be able to put up. Four senshi. Against an army of perhaps, five thousand. Not to mention four generals-no, ex- generals.  
  
The odds didn't look to good.  
  
Distantly, Minako noted the way that Zoicite clung to Kunzite, and a ghost of a bitter smile touched her lips for a second. So, it seemed that Kunzite had changed his taste from women to men. And- no. Minako forced those thoughts away; they threatened to pull her down into sharp despair, and she couldn't afford it right now.  
  
As it was, Minako grimly joined the other senshi who had also entered the palace grounds. All of the other senshi had a curiously soul-less look about them too- haunted, by the pain of the betrayal of their loves. Only Rei- Rei had a curious look about her, as if she didn't quite believe what she saw with her own eyes, and currently Rei was talking heatedly with Lita, although Minako couldn't quite make out what was being said-  
  
And then the four generals charged the gate- and Minako knew then it was the end that they were all going to die- when a shield of blue magic sprung up around the four generals and the four senshi. It effectively cut off the eight fighters from the rest of the army of youma, since the generals had charged so far ahead that there was quite a gap between the generals and the army. Minako risked a glance over at Ami, recognizing the shield as Ami's distinct blue magic, and  
  
realized that Ami was draining her life force to set up the shield, and Minako felt a pang for the blue-haired senshi, even though she was resigned that they were all going to die anyway-  
  
And then there was no more time for thought, no more time for heartbreak, no more time for anything but the whirling swords that glittered in the fading blood-light. Each general paired off with his ex-love, and Minako found herself facing Kunzite's feral grin.  
  
"Die, senshi!" Kunzite snarled, his face livid with hatred, blood-lust, and *enjoyment* of the slaughter- Minako shuddered inwardly, and then suddenly, from nowhere, anger erupted inside of her, filling her, usurping the place where her soul had formerly been. Red-hot, roiling inside of her, a red haze began to fog up Minako's vision.  
  
"Not- Unless- You- Do- First!" Minako snarled. In some remote part of her mind, she noted the delicious irony of the earlier promise she had made Kunzite; she wouldn't die unless he died first, and now she was able to make good on that promise.  
  
Minako began to fight with a ferocious brutality that was far removed from her normally elegant, efficient style of fighting. All that Minako cared about now was killing this bastard, this blatant mockery of her love-  
  
And then, with final lunge, Minako thrust through Kunzite's heart. Minako stood over Kunzite, triumphant. Sneering to the very last, Kunzite, with a flick of a wrist, outward and then up, threw a small winking dagger straight toward Minako's heart.  
  
Minako stared uncomprehendingly at the patch of red that slowly spread across her chest- this time, she couldn't stop her legs from giving out as weakness overcame her. She fell slowly to the ground, her eyes wide, but oddly empty. There was nothing left. Everything that  
  
had been dear, that had been true, that had been real to Minako, had been taken away in that instant that she had seen Kunzite in front of that youma army.  
  
"I hate you, Kunzite..." Minako whispered with her dying breath. But even those words were curiously hollow; there was no ring of truth to them, for Minako had nothing left to give, nothing real or true to left of herself. And with that name on her lips, Minako, Senshi of Venus, Guard of Princess Serenity, died on a field littered with corpses, beneath the shadow of the devastated Moon Palace.  
  
And so there was nobody to notice the small stone that was attached to a chain from Kunzite's corpse. The stone began to glow, and when Minako took her last breath and closed her eyes, the stone flared up with a brilliant light that was painful to see.//  
  
The Minako of the present began to lose her grip on the memories, but before she slipped entirely out, she saw one last thing-  
  
//The stone flared up with a brilliant light that was painful to see. When the initial burst of light faded, something like a ghost of a man stood looking down at Venus' body, and his face was contorted with sorrow-//  
  
And with that, the memories ended abruptly, as if sheared off with scissors.  
  
Minako was so still that one could have mistaken her for a statue but for the storm of emotions in her blue eyes-a turmoil of confusion, desparation, love, anger, hurt, hate, but above all-  
  
sorrow- raged on through the petite girl. Her skin was dead white, and clammy; if one had touched her, it would have been surprising how cold the girl had become. It was as if her skin had turned to ice.  
  
And then, suddenly, so suddenly that Artemis was taken aback- Minako bolted up and out- she literally tore out of her room, nearly bowling over the dazed white cat, who having recovered his senses, shouted out after Minako- "Wait! Wait!"  
  
But Minako ran on, heedless, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was intent on one purpose only- to get away, to leave all of her emotions behind, to run until she had escaped the millenia-old heartbreak, to get away from all the sorrow of the past which pursued her with cold fingers into the present.  
  
And so she ran, and kept on running, a streak of golden despair that ripped past everything and anything in her path.  
  
Minako didn't even realize that she had run out onto the streets of Tokyo, through all of the lonely, deserted streets, past the empty, dark houses, her footfalls echoing down the shadowy alleyways.  
  
Finally- panting for breath, gasping painfully- Minako came upon the park that lay in the middle of Tokyo. She collapsed onto a bench, and huddled there as small as possible. And the tears continued to leak out-  
  
To know that she had believed that she had been loved- she had though that she had been truly, really, loved, and that she had loved that person in return-  
  
To know that she herself had loved that person so deeply that she had felt as if there was room for nothing else-  
  
And then to know that all of it was *lie*-  
  
Minako's shoulders shook with sobs.  
  
For a long, long time, the desolate girl huddled there, alone in the world with only her heartbreak and her sorrow.  
  
And when there was finally nothing left-  
  
when the well had finally run dry-  
  
Minako began to feel an emotion that perhaps, no person that so truly personified love should ever feel-  
  
She had been duped. She had been a fool. True love was nothing but a farce, a sham, a trick for the gullible. And she had been gullible. Had she ever been gullible! That she should willingly give her heart to a man and then have it broken in front of her eyes-  
  
The kindest word that Minako could think of for herself was fool. An utter, complete fool.  
  
Well, never again. Never in eternity- Minako vowed to herself. I will *never* be broken that way again! She fiercely promised herself.  
  
In that lonely, deserted park, lit by the harsh glare of lamps while the gloom gathered all around, the girl known as Venus denounced love.  
  
And at that moment, something, some spark, deep within Minako, went out. Some vital energy that was the essence of Minako withered up and blew away as ashes.  
  
She closed her eyes once; and when she opened them-  
  
when she opened them, she had built walls around herself from the shards of her battered, broken heart-  
  
and where once her world had been grounded in the foundation of pure and innocent faith in the power of love-  
  
where once the base of her world had been all that was light and good and pure and free-  
  
Now Minako built her fragile world on one premise:  
  
Love was a lie.  
  
TBC... 


	2. Slashing Swords

Artemis approached Minako carefully. "Um, Minako? Are you all right?"  
  
Minako's head snapped up. She had been staring out at the city lights from the balcony of her room.  
  
"Of course I am! Why do you ask?" asked Minako brightly, but underneath that brilliance, there was lurking darkness.  
  
Artemis hesitated, looking closely at Minako. "Well, you've seemed a bit- a bit off-color, so I was wondering why."  
  
Minako flashed her trademark mega-watt smile at Artemis, but again, the smile was like gold paint over lead. "Oh, no. I've just been a bit tired lately, but honestly, there's nothing wrong with me." Minako's face softened when she saw Artemis' sincerely worried expression.  
  
"Truly, Artemis, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." Something of her old sincerity and compassion rang true in Minako's voice, so Artemis nodded and said, even though he was still faintly uneasy,  
  
"Alright, if you say so. Well, then, I'm going to go and see Luna about new battle tactics." Rubbing his way around Minako's legs once in farewell, Artemis leaped down from the balcony and walked off.  
  
Minako watched as Artemis faded into the distance. When he had vanished from sight she gave a great sigh. Something inside her seemed to deflate, and she ran her hand over her tired, wan face.  
  
Minako looked off into the distance again, and her eyes unfocused and took on a dreamy quality, but this was no dream, no, this was a waking nightmare-  
  
*Betrayal.  
  
"Die, Senshi!"  
  
A dagger winking from *his* hand-  
  
The devastated Moon Palace  
  
A sneer on Kunzite's face-*  
  
"No!" Minako brutally tore herself out of her memories. Staggering a bit as she went back into her room, she sat on her bed, her head buried in her hands.  
  
Truthfully, ever since Artemis had given Minako back her traumatic memories, everything had become centered around that ancient heartbreak. All Minako could ever think about was Kunzite; his love, his death, his betrayal. She dwelt on it constantly; everything she saw, everything she heard, brought all of it back, every memory, every sense, every detail. A cloudy day would bring back rain-grey eyes. A bouquet of flowers would bring back golden meadows. And everywhere, everywhere she kept on seeing that dazzling smile the day he had said he loved her; but always, always, underneath that smile was the sneer he had had the day he had killed her.  
  
And invariably, there was always the same word over and over again.  
  
Betrayl.  
  
It started to become an obsession to Minako; her world had spiraled down to that one word, and the one person behind that word. They had become synonymous, those two. Kunzite-betrayal. Betrayal-Kunzite. After a while, it had become the only constant in Minako's emotion-ravaged world.  
  
Minako's world had become a whirlwind of turbulent emotions; ever since she had regained her memories, Minako had lost her emotional center. Minako found herself constantly struggling for control of herself. She found herself becoming irrationally angry one moment, then nearly in tears for no reason. Minako couldn't even turn her friends anymore; they didn't know, they couldn't know, they shouldn't know, they wouldn't know.  
  
And most importantly, they wouldn't understand. Wouldn't understand the million thoughts and emotions running through her head, wouldn't understand the loss that woke her up at nights, screaming and soaked in cold sweat, wouldn't understand the sorrow that kept tearing her to tatters with sharp gleaming knives.  
  
And so she kept it secret from her friends; and if she seemed a little paler, a trifle thinner, a bit sadder, her friends wrote it off to stress or to overwork. For whenever they asked after her concernedly, she always smiled brightly and waved it off. But it wasn't often that someone noticed any of the personal turmoil and strife that Minako was battling; after all, Minako was an actress, and Minako had had a lot of practice with concealing emotions.  
  
And all throughout, while her emotions tossed and tattered her, she clung to that one anchor, that one constant in her life. When everything else was shattering to pieces under her desparate fingers, she knew this one thing to be true: she had loved Kunzite, and he had betrayed her.  
  
Everything became centered around that one truth. However, it was so ironic that in the wild whirlwind of her ravaging emotions, the truth that she clung to for stability and security was the same truth that was destroying her.  
  
Minako sighed, and she got up from her bed and with a practiced snap of her wrist and flick, she pulled out her Venus Chain-wink sword from her space pocket. Each of the scouts had recently discovered that in their "space- pockets" they also had their Silver Millenium swords. Amazingly enough, all of the katas that had been drilled into the scouts in the Silver Millenium were still remembered.  
  
Minako began to fall into a pattern of steps of one of the slower katas, trying to calm her mind. However, she unconsciously began to speed up, the turmoil of her thoughts leaking into her movements. The sword began to speed up, as did her body, until her sword was nothing but a flashing, dazzling blade, and her body was awhirl with movement. At the speed she was going, her movements were actually starting to become dangerous to herself, but she didn't care anymore, she just knew that she had to go faster, and faster- everything would be all right if she could just keep on going, forever keep the blade a whirling gleam of steel-  
  
And then her wrist faltered, and she skidded to an abrupt halt in front of her mirror.  
  
It was the first time she had looked at her reflection in days. She wanted to smash the mirror with her sword, but resisted the urge. She did not like what she saw there; the ghost of a girl whose intense inner agony was starting to eat away at her-  
  
For there was no doubt about it, Minako was slowly deteriorating. She had begun to snap at inconsequential matters, she became more irritable about trivial details. She even winced somewhat at loud sounds.  
  
Which was why when the phone rang abruptly, Minako nearly jumped out of her skin and almost dropped her sword. She took a deep breath, and visibly calmed herself. Then, in a marked stride, she went over to the telephone.  
  
"Hello?" Minako said sharply in a clipped voice.  
  
"Minako?" The voice on the other end sounded hesitant, as if the other person wasn't sure that Minako would speak so harshly. "This is Rei. I was wondering, well, if you'd come over to the temple? There's something- erm- rather important which I'd like to show you." Rei's voice was diffident, almost shy, which was extremely unlike the senshi of fire, but there was something, some emotion underneath her voice which Minako couldn't even begin to decipher.  
  
"Sure. Um, I'll be right over, then. Bye." Minako hung up the phone, extremely puzzled by the phone call. It wasn't often that Rei just called out of the blue requesting a visit, but Minako shrugged. She'd find out when she got there.  
  
Minako walked briskly to the temple, but as she walked up the stone steps, she had an eerie feeling; the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she unconsciously rubbed a hand over the nape of her neck. She somehow had the feeling that she was poised at the threshold, that she was about to be plunged into yet another mess of chaotic emotions, yet another whirlwind of forces completely out of her control. Something was going to happen on this visit to Rei.  
  
*Don't be ridiculous!* Minako chided herself. *You're being WAY too jumpy. Rei's the one who's supposed to get prescient visions, remember?*  
  
And yet, Minako couldn't quite shake her feeling of uneasiness. And when she crossed into the Fire Room where Rei was, her uneasiness tripled. Perhaps it was all in her imagination, but to her it felt like the atmosphere was charged with tension.  
  
Rei was sitting with her back to the entrance, but the moment that Minako stepped into the room, Rei gracefully unfolded herself from the floor, turned, and smiled at Minako.  
  
"Hi! Thanks for coming, I just wanted you over for a few minutes because I wanted to show you something." Rei said.  
  
Minako nodded, and Rei went over to a chest on the side of the room, and took out something. When Rei turned around, Minako's breath stopped in her chest.  
  
It was *the* stone. More accurately, it was the stone that Minako had seen Kunzite wear the day that he had died- the day that she had killed him, so many years ago. 


	3. Center of the Whirlwind

For the second time in as many weeks, Minako felt like she had been punched in the stomach and all the wind had been knocked out of her. But again, her military training from the silver millenium kicked in, and she remained standing. Barely.  
  
"Minako?" Rei was eyeing her with a curious expression. Minako could only imagine what she looked like right now; paper-white skin, trembling hands, legs that barely supported her weight, and probably insanely dilated pupils. But none of that mattered right now.  
  
"Wh-where did you get that- that stone?" Minako croaked out, desperately trying to get a grip on herself but failing miserably.  
  
Rei looked at her closely, her brow furrowed and her eyes worried, but she replied, "I picked it up at an old antiques store. They sell various knick- knacks, and when I saw this stone I decided to get it for you."  
  
"Why?" Minako's throat had closed up even further, and the one word that was an accusation and a question at the same time was forced out with difficulty.  
  
Rei looked at Minako shrewdly, and a glimmer of something in her purple eyes betrayed that Rei knew more than she was letting on, but the senshi of fire ignored Minako's extremely violent reaction to what was, to all appearances and purposes, simply a stone.  
  
"Well," Rei shrugged, "I thought that it was a pretty specimen, and I thought you might like it."  
  
Minako couldn't tear her eyes away from the stone, but in some distant corner of her mind that was still functioning, she had to admit that Rei had a point.  
  
The stone was a relatively large specimen- but it still fit comfortably in the palm of Rei's hand. It was nearly colorless, but the polished and gleaming facets revealed the faintest glimmers of rose. Minako had to admit that it a very attractive stone.  
  
"That stone is called kunzite, isn't it." It wasn't a question, it was a flat-out statement. Minako had to fight down her inner turmoil in order to get her mouth around that hated and loved name.  
  
Rei raised her glowing purple eyes to Minako's paper-pale face. "Yes, it is."  
  
The moment stilled, and time seemed to stop and pool around the two girls; a glowingly beautiful golden girl with frightened and despairing eyes, and a raven-haired girl with eyes that were intensely glowing purple.  
  
And between the two, a stone glimmered and gleamed rose in the flickering light of the sacred fire.  
  
And then the moment passed, and Rei broke the eerie silence.  
  
"Would you like to take it? It is my gift to you."  
  
Minako continued to stare at the stone. Over and over, in her head, the scene where she had last seen that stone replayed itself continually.  
  
//Kunzite.  
  
With a glimmering stone of which he was a namesake, hanging from his pocket- chain, while he rode toward the senshi with a feral sneer on his face.  
  
The stone, flashing rose in the dying starlight as Kunzite fell, blood pouring from his gaping chest wound.  
  
The stone, flaring up with a brilliant light, only to fade and coalesce into the image of a shadowy man, his face etched with sorrow.//  
  
Minako ripped herself out of her tormenting memories. She took a few short, quick breaths, and then glanced up at Rei, who was looking at her worriedly. Minako composed herself hastily and tried to reach for the stone.  
  
But her arm wouldn't obey her commands, and her hand was shaking so violently that Minako was having a hard time trying to control her limbs. Then again, she was also attempting to see through the tears that flooded her eyes and still disguise her turmoil from Rei, so perhaps it wasn't so surprising that Minako was very close to collapse.  
  
Rei reached out concernedly, but Minako spasmodically jerked back from her touch. Rei's expression grew even more worried, and so the senshi of fire swiftly procured a golden velvet draw bag and dropped the stone into it.  
  
"Minako-" she stretched out the bag and dropped it into Minako's pale, cold hand while supporting Minako's body with the other hand. "Are you all right? You don't look too well."  
  
Minako's hand automatically clasped around the velvet bag. With Rei's support, she struggled upright, and managed to give Rei a pale, wan smile. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to go home. Th-thank you for the stone." Minako whispered. And with that, she walked out the door of the temple, staggering a bit, as Rei watched the senshi of light and love, a worried expression was on Rei's face.  
  
Minako walked home in a daze. Bicycles swerved to avoid her, people nearly ran into her as she walked along, and cars slammed on their brakes as she crossed the streets with nary a glance. And all throughout, her hand clasped the golden velvet drawbag with the kunzite in it.  
  
Somehow, she made her way into her room, and sat down heavily on her bed as she laid the velvet drawbag on her bedside table. She was still staring at it when Artemis appeared on her balcony.  
  
"Minako?" Artemis padded over curiously, looking up at Minako's dazed and blank face. "Minako!" He butted his head against her arm.  
  
Abruptly Minako came to. "Wh-what? Artemis?" she blinked, looking down at the white cat by her side. "When did you get here? Already finished talking to Luna?"  
  
Artemis looked at Minako a bit worriedly, but Minako appeared to have snapped out her trance, so he started to wash himself unconcernedly. "Yes, we discussed some tactics to try and use against the generals, although I'm afraid that we didn't have any luck. They seem practically indestructible, and even Ami didn't come up with any vulnerabilities, even with her advanced scan. Well, we haven't seen them for a while now, so maybe this absence of theirs will continue. I hope it will."  
  
"Y-yeah. I hope it will too." Minako whispered hazily, her eyes unfocused and staring. Then Minako closed her eyes, as if in pain, and ran her hand over her tired, wan face. "Artemis, I'm not feeling too well, so I think I'll turn in early."  
  
Artemis looked at Minako, shocked. "But it's only 8 o'cloc-" Artemis bit back his exclamation as Minako turned her brilliant but tired blue eyes on him. As he looked at Minako, he had to admit that she looked exhausted and drained. "Well, if that's what you feel would be best."  
  
*Four hours later*  
  
Minako lay on her bed, staring out the glass french doors and the city lights outside that cast a pale light over her bedroom. Artemis was sleeping soundly, occasionally emitting a few snores.  
  
But despite her exhaustion, Minako couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned for the first two hours, but gave up after a while.  
  
She was tired. Oh, stars above, was she tired. She was tired of this entire whirlwind; she was tired of these emotions that ran roughshod over her; she was tired of acting like everything was fine when her world was going to pieces. She was tired of smiling and acting perky when she was hanging by her fingernails. She was tired of all this conflict surrounding her and- and Kunzite.  
  
But no matter how hard she tried, she could never find rest- could never find comfort, never find peace. The nature of her torture was that she was always restlessly impelled to torture herself further, despite her attempts to find peace. Oh, she had tried, she had tried ever since Artemis had given her those memories that had turned her upside down, shaken her until she broke into a million pieces, and then left her to try and pick herself up and piece herself together.  
  
Minako sat up, new resolve burning in her eyes. She got up, and changed into a sweater and jeans, making sure to tiptoe quietly so that Artemis wouldn't wake. Minako's eyes fell on the golden velvet drawbag. Somehow, she was irresistably drawn to it, although at the same time she was repelled, almost inexplicably frightened of the stone. She hesitated, then took the drawbag with the stone with her.  
  
Minako quietly let herself out of the house, and began to walk, unconsciously on the same pathway that she had taken that fateful night that she had received her memories of the silver millenium. She began to speed up, restlessly searching for something, something that she wasn't quite sure of, something that she didn't quite know yet.  
  
Eventually her feet took her to the same park as before, to the same bench on which she had denounced love.  
  
Minako hesitated, the painful memories of that same bench coming back to haunt her, but then stepped forward timidly and sat down. With her shaking hand, she opened the drawbag and emptied it, the stone sliding onto the bench.  
  
Minako bit her lip, staring at the stone as it gleamed underneath the harsh city lamplights. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch the stone, and the instant that her hand came into contact with the stone, a sparkling mist of white fog came shooting out, and immediately began to coalesce into the form of a tall, broad-shouldered man with long platinum hair and rain- grey eyes.  
  
Even before she was consciously aware of what she was doing, Minako surged to her feet to face this ghost, this spirit. A distant part of her was startled that a ghost had emerged from a stone, but somehow, she had always known that this would happen; knew that it was inevitable, knew that fate had to torture her one more time.  
  
Minako's voice came out in a ragged whisper, in acknowledgement of the person who now stood before her. The person she had loved, the person she hated, the person she had killed. The center of her emotional whirlwind.  
  
"Kunzite."  
  
AN: Yeah, I know it's short again, but you'll get explanations in the next chapter. Bear with me, people! 


	4. Hell Hath No Fury

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,  
  
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.  
  
-William Congreve  
  
*******************************************************  
  
For a timeless moment, they stood there staring at each other; the translucent, luminous ghost, with rain-grey eyes that were filled with millenia-old sorrow, gazing at the golden glowing girl, whose pain was written in every line of her body, including her wide blue eyes that were filled with anguish.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Minako whispered hoarsely. Her hands were clasped at the neck of her sweater, and her long, delicate fingers were tightly clutching the knitted cloth. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Minako screamed.  
  
"Why couldn't you just leave me alone? Why?" The questions poured out of Minako, faster and faster, but it all came down to the same word.  
  
"Why? Why come back and torture me again, and again, and again?" Now Minako's eyes glazed over with pain. It was obvious that she was asking fate why she was constantly tortured with memories and flashbacks of that fatal day; the day her love had killed her, and they day she killed her love.  
  
However, her eyes snapped back to the present, but although her blue eyes became clear, the pain was only more clear and sharper within her sky-blue orbs. Minako looked at Kunzite, and her expression was as if she would give anything to look away, but was compelled to look at Kunzite, to look straight into rain-grey eyes that stared back at her steadily.  
  
"Why? I loved you, and you betrayed me. Why?" Minako whispered. "WHY?!?!"  
  
"Minako, it's not what you think. I never betrayed you-" Kunzite's voice sent a shiver up Minako's spine; even after all these years, nothing had changed. Nothing had changed at all. She still reacted to him like she was innocent and naive and pure, and he still acted like he was her hero, come to save her, her knight in shining armor on a white horse. Nothing had changed, because he was still a bastard lying through his perfect, white teeth.  
  
Nothing had changed, except for the fact that Minako was no longer a innocent, naive little girl, to be taken in by rain-grey eyes and a dazzling smile. Nothing had changed, except for the fact that Minako was hurting badly and she simply couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"NO! I won't listen to this! You bastard, you thought that you could come charging in with excuses of innocence, you thought that you could just come and say sorry and I would forgive you and make it all better? You thought that I would just welcome you back with open arms and everything would be true love forever again, didn't you? Well, I have news for you! You can just pack up your excuses and explanations and go back-" Minako waved her hand wildly, vaguely in the direction of the stone. "To wherever you came from. You hear me?" Minako's angry eyes met Kunzite's sorrow-filled grey gaze, and Minako furiously turned away, as if the very sight of him pained her.  
  
"Minako-" Kunzite tried again, but Minako whirled on him.  
  
"I don't want to hear it! Damn you! Damn the day I fell in love with you! Damn myself for falling for a bastard like you! Damn love itself!" Minako's eyes glittered dangerously, and her stance- fists clenched by her sides, her eyes glaring hotly at Kunzite- all told him to back off.  
  
But Kunzite ignored the warning signs. "Minako-"  
  
"Shut up! JUST SHUT UP! I loved you, and you betrayed me!" she hissed. In the blink of time it took for her hand to flick outward for a familiar snap- hiss, Minako had her sword in hand and swung it with incredible speed and fury towards the kunzite stone, which still lay dimly gleaming rose on the park bench. The blade whistled from its extraordinary speed, and the air was virtually sliced in half as Minako slashed down towards the stone with all her strength, with all her anger, with all her sorrow.  
  
Only for Minako to violently wrench her own blade away in mid-air at the last second; an instant longer and the kunzite would have been shattered into powder. Minako staggered back, as if astonished by her actions, by her own inability to shatter that stone. She set her sword point down in the ground, only to fall to her knees, weeping, as her hand clutched the pommel of the sword. Her shoulders heaved with dry sobs, but her face was hidden by the hair that curtained her bowed head.  
  
"I can't kill you. I can't kill you." Minako whispered in a shattered voice, as if astonished.  
  
Minako felt a light touch on her shoulder. The touch was strangely cold and distant, and when she looked at her shoulder she realized why; Kunzite had touched her shoulder gently.  
  
Minako raised confused eyes to Kunzite's pained visage. Any questions that she might have had died on her lips as she looked, really looked into those familiar, loved and hated eyes.  
  
She looked up, and she couldn't stand what she saw there.  
  
Love.  
  
Even after he had betrayed her, ripped her heart out with his hands, murdered her, then in present day left her floundering in an emotional whirlwind, he still had the temerity to love her?  
  
He was insane.  
  
Minako stood there for a moment, mesmerized by this alien emotion in Kunzite's eyes. And then ripped herself away furiously, snapping her sword back into its space pocket with a fierce, angry flick of her wrist.  
  
"Leave me alone! Just go away and never come back, you hear? Just LEAVE ME ALONE!" Minako was blinded with tears, but with the pure force of her emotion, she somehow forced Kunzite back, forced him back until he became a silver mist again, coalescing quietly back into the stone which still gleamed dimly rose in the yellow city lamps.  
  
Minako drew in several deep, shuddering breaths, distantly aware that she was trembling violently. Every instinct in her was urging her to run, to run as far and as fast as she could, but she remained rooted to the spot.  
  
And she knew why.  
  
For whatever mysterious reason, she could not leave that stone behind.  
  
She could not kill him, and by the same token, she could not abandon him.  
  
Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned back to the stone. Each footstep closer to the kunzite took an eternity, until finally she gazing down at the gleaming stone. Abruptly, she picked up the stone, although she handled it as if it was red hot, and with rapid movements made clumsy by her trembling hands, she dropped the kunzite into the velvet drawbag and drew it tightly shut.  
  
And then she ran, ran back to her haven as echoes of her footsteps followed her home down the long, lonely alleys.  
  
****************************************************  
  
Minako rubbed her tired eyes as she walked along the busy streets. She had not had an easy night after she had returned home; her mind was too troubled and unsettled. After Minako had reached home last night (or early morning, depending on one's perspective) with the velvet drawbag clutched tightly in her pale, white hands, she had, after a moment of hesitation, resisted the urge to throw the damned thing in the closet and then torch the house. Instead, she laid it gently on her dresser, although the controlled desperateness of her movements and the fine trembling of her hands belied her actions.  
  
She still would not look in the mirror. The girl who gazed back still looked too much like a ghost.  
  
Minako tossed and turned nearly the whole night, but when the oppressive black of night began to lighten to a slightly less morbid grey, she finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep that was haunted by echoes of a well-known and once-loved voice, whispering her name, haunted by rain-grey eyes that looked at her with that forbidden, unbearable emotion, still haunted by the ghost of a dazzling smile in a field full of golden flowers, still haunted by the smirk on that traitorous face as he flung the gleaming dagger up at her...  
  
It was a long and restless night.  
  
The moment Minako woke up, which was at about 5:00 in the morning due to her uneasy dreams, she decided to seek out the only person who might have any information, any answer at all to this insane situation.  
  
Rei.  
  
She quickly dressed in the dark, since she didn't want to wake up her parents with the lights from her room, and incidentally the clothes that she put on were her only set of black clothes. She wore a jet-black turtleneck and black pants.  
  
On anybody else, such clothes would have looked morbid and depressing, but as always, everything looked stunning on Minako. However, the stark black only served to emphasize the paleness of her skin and her striking but sorrowful face. Whereas Minako's beauty before had been the beauty of freshness and springtime and joy of life, Minako had slowly been turned into another type of beauty. She was no less stunning, but when people looked at her, they saw a girl whose agony was slowly eating away at her, burning away everything that was superficial and comfortable and easy to see. Although her hair had dulled from its normal luminous gold, and her skin had paled to a translucent white, her eyes were painfully brilliant with her inner grief and turmoil. As a result, people found her beauty strangely compelling and moving, but it was dangerous to look at one such as her too long or too deeply, else one would drown in her pain.  
  
So Minako found herself walking a bit blindly down the street towards the temple, at 6:00 in the morning. As she climbed up the wide stone steps, she hesitated as she was about to cross the threshold of the temple. She had not considered the fact that few people were awake this early on a Saturday morning, but a familiar silhouette from the direction of the fire room assured her that the senshi of Mars was awake. She had forgotten that Rei always rose early, from habit.  
  
Minako entered the room soundlessly, but Minako could tell that Rei knew the instant that Minako entered the room. Rei had always been that way. Even all those years ago.  
  
Rei was positioned in front of the sacred fire, and although she remained motionless, Minako knew by the tension between Rei's shoulders that the senshi of fire knew that Minako had entered.  
  
"Why did you give me that stone?" Minako's voice came out cracked and harsh, almost an accusation.  
  
"Why did you come?" Rei countered, bonelessly rising up and turning in one fluid motion.  
  
"I- I- You must know what that stone is!" Minako's voice was laced with desperation. She needed answers, and she needed answers now.  
  
"I do. That stone is one of the remnants of the Silver Millenium. Your former lover-" Minako shuddered violently at this description of Kunzite "your former lover's spirit is connected with that stone, of which he is a namesake. But-" And here Rei hesitated, studying Minako closely- the pale skin, the tired but too brilliantly intense eyes- "I don't believe that you have discovered the whole truth about what happened in the Silver Millenium. Kunzite deserves his chance to tell you what happened, and truthfully, you owe it to yourself to listen to him. All I will say is that things are not as they seem."  
  
Minako was up and blazing. "What do you mean, things are not as they seem?" she raged. "He betrayed me and killed me! Don't you understand that? He turned away from everything good and true and real and came back to murder his liege and devastate the Moon Palace! He came to kill Usagi too, and in case you didn't notice, she's OUR monarch? Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Minako's accusations rang out in the silent room. The golden senshi with painful, intense eyes, was on one room while the senshi of fire regarded Minako calmly, but sorrowfully, on the other side of the room while the fire burned soundlessly between them. "He betrayed me- he ripped out heart out and tore it to pieces..." Minako whispered.  
  
"And why should you care so much?" Rei asked quietly. Her question left Minako gaping.  
  
"Why should I care? Why should I care?!?! How can you ask that?" Minako cried out. "Well, he only murdered me and conspired to kill all of my friends, burn and destroy my home, and now, as if that's not enough, he wants to kill all of of us now! Again! It's like he has to keep coming back, again and again and again."  
  
Rei looked at Minako keenly from across the room, and then unexpectedly crossed the room swiftly and took Minako by the shoulders, gazing into Minako's face intently.  
  
"You still love him." Rei stated. Minako was still reeling from shock at this statement when Rei continued, "You still love him, even after everything you believe that he has done." Rei shook her head wonderingly. "You still love him, even though you believe that he betrayed you."  
  
Minako ripped herself violently away, staggering away, burying her face in her hands. "NO! No! I can't! I'm not! I won't! I can't be in love with him!" But even to Minako's own ears, it sounded more like a denial than a declaration.  
  
"You're in love with him," Rei continued relentlessly, "And you know you are. You haven't been able to move past the betrayal, even though it took back several millenia ago. If you really weren't in love with him, you should have been able to leave the betrayal in the past and move on with your life. But you haven't, because you're still in love with Kunzite; you've been focusing on your heartbreak, Minako, and it's tearing you up inside." When Rei saw Minako's stubborn expression, she sighed and crossed the room to take Minako by the shoulders.  
  
"You're not as good an actress as you think; you can't hid anguish like that from a clairvoyant. If you let this continue, Minako, it'll drive you mad with despair and sorrow and fear and regret. I'm serious; you'll go insane from obsessing on the heartbreak that happened in the Silver Millenium. You can stop this, you know. Why won't you listen to Kunzite? Why won't you even consider the possibility that he might be innocent?"  
  
Rei's question hung in the air, charging the atmosphere to an even greater degree. There was a long, tense and taut silence. For a length of time, Rei waited for Minako's answer. When it finally came, Rei almost missed it.  
  
"Because I'm afraid." Minako whispered.  
  
"What?" Rei was fairly certain that she had misheard Minako. Minako was as brave as eany of the senshi when it came to battle, but when it came to the rough and uncertain territory of emotions and feelings, Minako was the most adept and expert. After all, as the senshi of love, emotions and feelings were her area of expertise. Despite her often overenthusiastic and somewhat crazy facade, Minako truly was a sensitive and discreet counselor to all of her friends whenever any of the senshi had any knotty emotional problems.  
  
And yet, here Minako was, admitting fear in her own expertise, emotions and feelings.  
  
"Because I'm afraid!" Minako whirled around, her manner agitated. She ran a hand through her hair. "How could I be in love with him? How? HOW?!?! He destroyed everything I loved in the Silver Millenium, and here he is trying to do it again? And I still love him! Am I some kind of pervert, some kind of freak, that I love bastards the enjoy throwing daggers at me and kills my friends for fun?" Minako's voice had risen to a hysterical pitch.  
  
"And- and what if he is innocent?" Minako whispered now, having sunk down to the ground since her legs had given out from under her. "I- I couldn't handle that! Do you know what that would mean to me? It would mean-" Minako was overcome by her emotions, and couldn't continue.  
  
"It would mean that everything that you've believed would fall apart completely. It would mean that your emotional anchor would disappear again, because lately your emotional anchor has been your belief that Kunzite was guilty. That he betrayed you and killed you. But, if you had to let go of that belief, it would mean that you'd be thrown out of one whirlwind into another. Except last time, the whirlwind just threatened your sanity and health. But this time, this whirlwind would endanger your heart." Rei finished for Minako.  
  
The moment shimmered, and stretched out into something more than an instant in time.  
  
"Yes." Minako finally whispered.  
  
There was a short silence, and then Rei sighed, and then knelt by the shattered senshi of love. "Go home. Go home and sleep. You look like you haven't been sleeping properly for a month at least." Minako winced, knowing that this was actually the case. "And think about who Kunzite really is to you. Consider listening to him, because truth is often buried deep. I can tell you right now that if you don't resolve this somehow, you will go mad with the entire emotional mess that you've been trying to deal with lately." Rei's voice took on a softer tone. "Things will look better when you wake." Rei's voice was gentle as she repeated, "Things will look better when you wake." 


	5. Crime of Truth

Hi people! I know that it's been a long, long while since I last updated, but this was a long time coming. Anyway, I just realized that I haven't thanked all the people who gave me feedback before, so I decided I'd just do that now. Thank you all so much who left comments! It really means a lot to me. Anyway, here's chapter 5! ~Grace  
  
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The second that Minako entered her room after coming back from Rei's, she dropped onto her bed like a stone. She lay there, looking up at the ceiling of her room. Her ceiling was blank; there was nothing but white, and suddenly Minako was relieved to have something that was simple in her life, even if it was only her ceiling color. It was blissfully just blank; no heartbreak, no sorrow, no betrayal, no painful questions that scared her because she was afraid of the answers. No, white was pure and clean and simple...  
  
and Minako's eyelids drooped lower, and lower, and lower, until finally she was fast asleep, for the first time in a month.  
  
The day continued, and the sun cast loving shifting shadows across Minako's face as she slumbered on, and for once her face was peaceful, and there was even a slight smile on her face as she slept.  
  
For this time, instead of flashing daggers and devastated palaces haunting her dreams, her dreams were full of sweet whispers of a once-beloved voice, smiling silver eyes, and the wisps of a once brilliant love.  
  
When Minako woke it was nighttime again. The city lights cast a soft glow over her bedroom as she yawned and stretched luxuriously, feeling relaxed and rested. She had no idea where Artemis had gone, but wasn't too worried about him. He could take care of himself.  
  
She stood up, and walked over to the balcony of her room. Leaning on the railing, she closed her eyes and breathed in the cool night air. Opening her eyes, she looked out over the city, and then went back inside, to the table where a golden velvet drawbag rested.  
  
For the first time in weeks, her step was sure and her hands were steady as she slipped the kunzite out of the velvet; the reason was that for the first time, something like hope blossomed in her heart.  
  
Hope that love was not a fraud. Hope that she was not a fool. Hope that Kunzite- her breath caught in her chest- that Kunzite was, perhaps, truly, the solution to everything that had been plaguing her lately; that perhaps, she would find something true and real and good to anchor herself on. Maybe she would finally have something to base her world on that would not fall out the first time she took a tentative step into the cruel world.  
  
A bittersweet smile touched Minako's mouth; it seemed that almost every time in her life that she had finally found something real and good and true to believe in with all her heart, everything fell to pieces just as she finally started to fly. There had been Alan. And then enter Katarina. There had been her parents; they had been so kind and supportive and loving when she had gotten her first movie role. And then she found out that they had been in it for the money, and now that Minako was rich, (relatively speaking) Minako never saw her parents except when her mother passed out on the couch or when her father came stumbling in drunk. And then, whenever they need her signature to withdraw yet more money from Minako's paycheck, they suddenly became loving and friendly yet again.  
  
Truly, the only thing that Minako had always known in her present life that she could always depend on were the other senshi; but even they hadn't been in her life until recently. No, Minako had been a loner for nearly all her life (though not by choice) and even though Minako could not ask for better friends then the other senshi, who were all like sisters to her, but still, still...  
  
She placed the gleaming dusky rose stone on a green glass dressing table. The glowing lights from the night city caused the facets to glint and glimmer.  
  
Taking a deep breath, she touched the stone hesitatingly. At the first touch of her slender white fingers, golden light blossomed out of the stone and spilled out into a glitter cloud which eventually condensed into a tall, luminous form.  
  
Kunzite stood there, or not really stood, but more hovered. Minako looked at him carefully, this time, comparing this Kunzite to the one she fought on a near daily basis. She could see that this Kunzite still had on his Silver Millenium general uniform on, from all those millenia ago. However, it was not the horrible grey that she was used to seeing on him- him? His evil clone? This Kunzite's uniform was silvery-white with gold trim. And- and the difference in appearance went further than just his clothing. There was a kind of aura about him that bespoke of nobility, and strength, and there was a depth and kindness to his eyes that the other Kunzite never had.  
  
"I-" Minako hesitated; exactly how was she supposed to talk to this person? "I would like to know what it was that you had to say to me before." She finally said. "I know that I was upset when I first saw you, but" Minako tried to retreat into icy, impassive formality, but the catch in her voice gave her away. "But I would appreciate it if you tell me your side of the story now." She ended simply.  
  
*And this explanation had better be damn good.* She thought a trifle bitterly.  
  
Kunzite's mouth twisted in a wry smile, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Instead of telling you, let me show you." He spoke quietly, so that Minako had to strain to hear him. He walked- or rather glided- over, and touched his icy fingers to the sigil of Venus on Minako's forehead, which again flared up with golden light at contact. For the second time, Minako was pulled into another set of memories, except this time, these were the memories of Kunzite.  
  
//Kunzite looked apprehensively back at Minako- even though he was now inside the teleport station, he could still see her worried face. He drew in a deep breath, and then tried to let go of his anxieties. It didn't work. He was still as worried as ever about Minako, and about the safety of all of the people of the Moon. The situation on Earth was quickly deteriorating, even with the efforts of Endymion and the other generals from the Moon.  
  
So Endymion and his generals were returning to Earth. Intellectually, Kunzite knew that it was the only option to salvage any part of the desperate situation, and Minako understood that too. But Kunzite definitely did not like it; his gut was screaming at him to stay on the Moon. Even worse, Nephrite had been going around looking like a doomsayer. But when asked specifically what was wrong, Nephrite would only shake his head and then retreat into his "all-knowing, all-powerful look, but I'm choosing to brood over my knowledge by myself because I'm more powerful and knowledgeable than all of you and I need to carry this burden alone look" that drove everybody around him insane. But Kunzite didn't like it; no, he didn't like any of it. If there was anything that Kunzite trusted more than his own judgement, it was Nephrite's gut. Even though Nephrite's gift of foresight was inspecific and often vague, everybody knew that when Nephrite had a bad feeling that invariably, something catastrophic was going to happen.  
  
All of this combined to make Kunzite feel very, very nervous and apprehensive about the entire situation. It was a strange feeling, because Kunzite had quite truthfully, never known such fear before. Kunzite was just a naturally impassive and stolid person, and this granted him at least partial immunity to many emotions, and for most of his life he had never known true fear.  
  
Then again, he had never known true love before, either. Kunzite thought of Minako, laughing and golden in the sunlight, and his heart twisted painfully. If anything should happen to her...  
  
Kunzite wrenched his thoughts away from that path; he knew that if he thought about any harm coming to Minako, he would go insane with worry.  
  
He turned away from the window after one last glance at Minako's worried face. He gave a brief nod to her, and she returned the favor by raising her hand in farewell. The four generals waited as Endymion spoke one last time to Serenity. Although there were tears on her face, she was remarkably calm. Endymion came over, and in a flash, the four generals and their liege were transported down to earth.  
  
The instant that Kunzite re-oriented himself from the customary dizzyness that accompanied teleporting, he knew that something was wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and as he glanced over at Nephrite, the uneasy feeling at the back of his mind multiplied tenfold. Nephrite was completely rigid, and his eyes were glassy and unfocused. Jadeite, who was closest to Nephrite, noticed and put his hand on Nephrite's arm.  
  
"Hey! Hey, Neph, what's wrong?" When there was no response, Jadeite came in front of Nephrite and put his hands on Nephrite's shoulders and shook the other general, trying to snap him out of it. "Hey! Wake up! We're back on Earth! We're back home, alright?"  
  
Nephrite's eyes abruptly refocused, but he still looked lost and confused. "No, it's not all right. It's not all right. It won't be all right for a long, long time." He whispered. Then, realizing that the other generals and his liege were staring at him strangely, Nephrite shook his head, as if to clear it, and gave a weak smile. "I'm OK, don't worry about me." But everybody noticed the significant strain in Nephrite's voice. However, Nephrite was insistent that he was fine, so finally the other generals and Endymion left it at that.  
  
"Well, if you're sure," Endymion said doubtfully, "We all have to go to a council meeting right away; evidently they didn't want to wait until later, the situation is that serious here. The public is revolting against the throne, and not only that, public sentiment against the Moon Kingdom is so high right now that they want to wage war."  
  
The five men hurriedly took the lifts from the teleport station to the other side of the castle, and strode to the Council room. The teleport station was located at the bottom part of the castle, and was the furthest from the Council room, which was at the prominent front of the part of the castle. The Council room actually had a large set of elegant French glass doors that led out to the balcony, which overlooked the large, spacious courtyard at the front of the palace.  
  
The five men strode into the Council Room. The grim faces around the room did nothing for the knot of fear twisting in Kunzite's gut.  
  
"Your Highness." The Councilors knelt for a brief second, and rose again, as was customary. Endymion bowed his head to accept the courtesy, but Kunzite could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise, even though he could not pinpoint why. He glanced out of the corner of his eye towards Nephrite. The general was dead white, his face drained of all color, but he was composed and standing tall, although his eyes glittered strangely.  
  
The four generals and their liege sat down at the long table, and Endymion began to speak. "It is obvious to me that in my absence, Earth has spiraled down into complete chaos. I need to know what happened here."  
  
"Indeed. Your lack of knowledge of the situation on the planet that you yourself rule is troubling, highness." Kunzite looked sharply at the speaker, who had, interestingly enough, risen to his feet. It was one of the more minor councilors, but the man had often been annoying and troubling at the normal Council meetings. He was often shrill and annoying, raising full blown debates over trivial matters which nobody else had any interest in. But there was a predatory gleam in this man's eye now that Kunzite did not like. No, he didn't like it at all.  
  
"It seems that you have been neglecting your duties, your highness. You have spent the better part of a year in the Moon palace, and have quite ignored the growing problems here on Earth, despite our pleas and requests. It is said that you have become enamored of the Moon Princess, and that it is for her sake that you have neglected your duties as the Prince of Earth." Kunzite turned his attention to the next speaker who also stood when addressing the prince. It was against protocol; protocol demanded that all people of lesser rank than the prince sit whenever the prince was sitting, and stand whenever the prince was standing. It was not the type of rule ignored by the Council, and yet there the Councilors were, blatantly standing at the table while the prince sat at the head.  
  
"You have spent all of your time at the moon palace, where they have been obviously been bewitching you with dark arts." A councilor sneered. Endymion nearly burst with outrage at the remark, but another councilor interjected. "It has been wondered how you can even stand to consort with such obviously spineless liars as the Moon people. They reserve the secrets of immortality for themselves, and practice their dark arts in order even further extend their evil lives."  
  
Endymion would have exploded, but Jadeite, to Endymion's left, laid a warning hand on his prince. It was a measure of how outraged Endymion was if he needed his friend to remind him of protocol, and it was even more amazing that Jadeite had found it necessary to actually remind his liege in public.  
  
Another councilor went on. "One might even question your," the councilor rose to his feet as he spoke, pausing for effect, "your loyalty to earth anymore."  
  
Kunzite could hear a sharp intake of breath next to him, probably from one of his fellow generals. The air seemed to have become very, very cold. The tension multiplied and froze in the room like dangerous icicles.  
  
"Be careful in what you say." The words were spoken softly, but the menacing edge was unmistakable as Jadeite's eyes flashed dangerously. Kunzite could tell from the sudden set of Jadeite's shoulder that the other general would have risen to his feet as well, but was forced to sit while the prince was still seated. Nevertheless, Jadeite leaned forward while placing his hands on the table, speaking intently while looking at the councilor in question. "You speak to the prince, and you would do well to remember your place."  
  
The councilor sneered. At that gesture, nearly all four of the generals would have risen to their feet but for their liege. Kunzite looked at the councilor, trying to gauge this uncharacteristic behavior.  
  
"Your Highness." The Head Councilor rose to his feet, and his face intent and his eyes looking carefully at Endymion. Kunzite tensed; the Head Councilor was a trusted advisor of Endymion, second in rank only to the generals. He was reknowned for being fair, and just. Kunzite looked at him carefully; was there sorrow, even regret in the Head Councilor's eyes? But the councilor spoke resolutely nonetheless.  
  
"The public has become upset at your negligence. If you will step this way, you will see what I mean." The councilor walked to the end of the long, narrow room. Endymion rose from his chair, and the councilor opened the two tall, long glass doors onto the balcony. Endymion stepped outside, but all four generals clustered around him protectively.  
  
Outside, there was a sea of people that seemed to stretch onward and onward. Kunzite gazed out at them, the Earth people who filled the courtyard of the palace and beyond. Their faces were closed off, neutral, but Kunzite could feel the muted hostility that ran underneath the calm exterior. *But they aren't supposed to be in here anyway- The guards are supposed to keep people out-* Kunzite thought worriedly. Something was very wrong, but the disaster that Kunzite kept subconsciously waiting for still had not struck. Yet.  
  
"Prince Endymion." The Head Councilor addressed the prince. "By the right of the Earth Council, I invoke the spell of truth." While the councilor had been speaking, his hands had moved in a purposeful pattern, and a weaving and dancing of light all around his hands could be seen. Kunzite sucked in his breath; his stomach suddenly seemed to drop. The truth spell was a rare but extremely powerful spell that could only be used under strict conditions, but the law of Earth stated that the Head of the Earth Council had the right to invoke the truth spell against royalty when treason had been suspected. However, the truth spell could only be cast if the person was willing. "Do you accept this spell, your highness?" the councilor asked, eyebrow raised.  
  
Kunzite held his breath. To refuse to accept the spell was as good as admitting to treason, and yet... Kunzite did not like to think of the questions that might be asked if Endymion did accept the truth spell.  
  
"Yes, I accept this spell." Endymion said forthrightly, although his eyes were narrowed.  
  
"Very well." The Head Councilor's words were clipped, his eyes cold.  
  
"It has been said that you have fallen in love with the princess of the Moon, Princess Serenity." Endymion nodded. "What it comes down to, your highness, is if you had to choose between your loyalty to earth and your love of Serenity, then which would you choose?"  
  
The question hung in the air, electrifying the atmosphere. Kunzite tensed, looking at Endymion. If the silence had been cold before, then now everything seemed to have frozen. There was no sound, while Endymion struggled with the question. The ring of councilors surrounded Endymion in a tense semi-circle while the crowd waited below, a silent sea of not-yet hostile faces.  
  
"Serenity." The word came out as a whisper, damning them all.  
  
The crowd erupted into a seething mass of anger and hostility. In a fluid motion, all of the councilors drew their swords. But even at their movement, all four generals unsheathed their swords.  
  
"Councilors, you do realize that you are attacking your liege prince," Zoicite spoke sharply, his eyes glinting dangerously.  
  
"I suppose that you must be accusing us of treason, then? The treason must be on your part, General Zoicite, to remain allegiant to a prince who is not even loyal to the kingdom he rules!" retorted another Councilor.  
  
Kunzite narrowed his eyes at that remark. But he had no more time for further thought, since the councilors were advancing on the generals and Endymion slowly, with the angry crowd behind them. Kunzite stepped forward, in front of Endymion. He was now in the best position to protect Endymion, since the crowd could not reach them immediately. But more importantly, he had formed an inkling of an idea.  
  
"Councilors." Kunzite spoke clearly, although the entire situation had a feeling of unreality. "Councilors, be it as it may that you no longer wish Endymion to be monarch, you at least should let him go. He is guilty of no crime other than the love of a princess. I know that he will willingly give up the throne of Earth," Kunzite could hear gasps all around him, from his fellow generals, but Endymion remained silent, supporting on blind faith that his head general knew what he was doing.  
  
"I know that Endymion would willingly give up the throne of Earth," Kunzite repeated, edging a little to the side so he could see Endymion out of the corner of his eye, "for Princess Serenity. I repeat, gentlemen, he is guilty of no other crime than of loving a girl. That is all. And it is not worth his life."  
  
The councilors only sneered at that remark, closing the circle in tighter, the lethal tips sparkling dangerously. The crowd shouted even further, unwillingly to hear anything that Kunzite said. The crowd was hungry for blood, and Kunzite could tell that his prince and the other generals knew it. But they all stood resolutely, ready to face their certain deaths for their prince. Everybody readied themselves for the impending fight. It appeared that Kunzite's words had had no effect.  
  
But the Head Councilor remained where he was, looking at Kunzite. Kunzite returned the look steadily, praying that he had been an accurate judge of character. The Head Councilor of their only hope. Even though the generals would probably be able to take out the Councilors, (although the earthen nobility were formidable swordsmen themselves) if the crowd stormed the palace, then neither Endymion nor the generals stood a chance, not against so many. So Kunzite held his breath, waiting to see if it would work.  
  
Kunzite saw the Head Councilor's eyes flicker, and the councilor nodded almost imperceptibly. When the Head Councilor sheathed his sword, Kunzite's heart rose. But when the Councilor spoke his next words, his heart sank down to infinity.  
  
"Endymion is obviously a coward who cannot even face the consequences of his actions." The head Councilor said, his voice full of contempt, ringing out above the crowd. "Well, if he feels like running," His voice carried to the furthest reaches of the mob, who pressed forward eagerly, hungry for blood. "Then why don't we give him a chase to remember?" The Head Councilor strode to the front of the balcony, inciting the crowd to further fury. The mob cheered bloodthirstily. "Oh, but since Endymion is such a poor, fightened, child, why don't we give him a head start?" The Head Councilor continued, emphasizing the supposed prince's name without his title, and his voice was full with mock-pity and ill-concealed disgust. The crowd cheered, in favor of the Councilor's suggestion.  
  
Kunzite felt sick, and turned his rain-grey eyes, full of betrayal, to the Head Councilor. Amazingly enough, the Head Councilor turned to look back at him, and the expression in his eyes were of resigned sorrow. Suddenly, Kunzite understood. The other councilors were obviously dead set against Endymion, and the crowd would not be tamed.  
  
The Head Councilor had given them the only chance that he could have.  
  
"So clear out!" the Head Councilor snapped to the other councilors. The councilors parted to form a narrow and hostile alley for the generals and the prince to file through. Kunzite and Nephrite stood in front of Endymion, with Jadeite and Zoicite taking the tail, all four generals instinctively protecting their liege as they had for nearly every day of their lives.  
  
The Head Councilor looked on after them as the crowd in front of the palace yelled and shouted, champing at the bit. Kunzite cast one last fleeting look back at the Head Councilor.  
  
*Thank you.* He thought, even though he knew the Councilor did not have telepathy. But the Councilor nodded slightly anyway. For some things, one did not need words.  
  
No sooner had the Council room doors closed than Kunzite broke into a dead run. The other generals hesitated, but at a sharp command and gesture from Kunzite, the other generals began sprinting as well. The generals were still under Kunzite's leadership, and obeyed him only below Endymion.  
  
Endymion, on the other hand, was standing bewilderedly, obviously too confused and shattered by the sudden betrayal of his subjects that he was incomprehending. Kunzite sighed, and went back and started pulling his liege along as fast as he could. Endymion started to run a bit dazedly, and then asked, "Kunzite, where are we going?" Kunzite's heart nearly broke at the voice of his liege, sounding like a broken child.  
  
"Endymion, we need to get you to the Moon as fast as possible." Kunzite said gently. At that, Endymion's head shot up. "What?"  
  
Kunzite sighed. "Endymion, those people out there want to kill you. You need to get away from here as fast as possible, and the safest place for you right now is the moon."  
  
"No! This is my kingdom!" Endymion was childishly defiant. It seemed that the shattering of Endymion's world had caused Endymion to regress into simplicity and childlike behavior.  
  
"Endymion!" Kunzite finally lost his patience even as the other generals were running along beside him and the prince on their way to the teleport station. "Did you hear those people or have you suddenly become deaf as well as stupid? They hate the moon! You have to warn them in case the mob decides to invade the moon! What will happen if the earth army storms the moon with no warning?"  
  
Endymion opened his mouth to argue further. "I should stay- and all of you, you're going to be in danger too-"  
  
"ENDYMION! YOU IDIOT!" Zoicite cut in, taking Endymion by the shoulders, shaking the taller man until his teeth rattled. "Why do you think we're doing this? We need to PROTECT YOU! THAT IS OUR JOB! And right now, you are in serious, serious danger right here! You get the idea?!?" Endymion shook his head, still unconvinced. "But I need to be with all of you!"  
  
"Endymion, what would happen to your princess if the Moon is not warned of the impending invasion?" Endymion's face drained of all color as Jadeite came up beside the prince, touching his shoulder gently. "You need to go and protect your princess. That is where you need to be. With Serenity." The quiet words of Jadeite finally seemed to break through where all the other words failed.  
  
"Serenity-" Endymion whispered, obviously shaken at the thought of the earth army attacking his princess with no warning. And then, suddenly, the prince began to run even faster. He tore down the hall, seemingly forgetting the other generals, who struggled to catch up with him. Kunzite followed after, in some part satisfied that Endymion was finally seeing sense, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that all of them were running faster and ever faster towards their doom.  
  
Kunzite and the other generals continued following behind the rapidly fleeting form of Endymion as they all headed for the teleport station, the sounds of the mob still close on their heels.// 


End file.
